         remaining-pubs (sequence offer-xf publishers)]
     (if (empty? remaining-pubs)
       (advance state)
-      (set-context! state (assoc context :publishers remaining-pubs)))))
+       (-> state 
+           (initial-sync-backoff)
+           (set-context! (assoc context :publishers remaining-pubs))))))
 
 (defn barrier-status-opts [state]
   (let [status (merged-statuses state)]

        state)
      (goto-next-batch! state))))

(defn offer-barriers [state]
  (let [messenger (get-messenger state)
        {:keys [barrier-opts publishers] :as context} (get-context state)

        remaining-peers (sequence offer-xf src-peers)]
    (if (empty? remaining-peers)
      (advance state)
      (-> state 
          (initial-sync-backoff)
          (set-context! (assoc context :src-peers remaining-peers))))))

(defn unblock-subscribers [state]
  (sub/unblock! (m/subscriber (get-messenger state)))
